Hello Posh Dolls! Today I am so excited to share with you the fun that my family had eating, shopping, and exploring Mackinac Island, St. Ignace, and Tahquamenon Falls. I am so excited that I got the opportunity to blog this as a posh doll and tell you about the experience my family and friends had. I hope that some day soon you can experience them as well. If you are from out of state and need a reason to visit Michigan these are surely reasons to come. (Most of my outfits you can get from posh.
My name is Darby, I am 19 years old, and I am an employee/model for Posh boutique. I share a love of fashion and taking photos, along with the owner Melissa, and we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share with our Posh Dolls the perfect vacation in Michigan.
My family is from Michigan, but this was special occasion for us because a week previous my sister turned 21. We decided to take this trip to help her celebrate. There were many places to go and we tried to hit every one of them. Mackinac Island is not only known for their amazing fudge, but also for the Michigan history it holds.
The Mackinac Bridge – In order to get to the ferry or the plane that takes you to the island you have to cross the iconic Mackinac Bridge. From the bridge you can see the island and the beautiful Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. As you continue to cross the bridge you can choose to go to St. Ignace or keep going North. We stayed at a house in St. Ignace, so we had to take the route to St. Ignace.
The Love Shack – My mom is always the one who finds the places that we stay. She picked the house that could sleep the most because my family is big. In the photo above we are missing my mom, me, and three more close family friends who were joining us on the trip as well. The house that my mom booked was called The Love Shack. It ran around $100 a night not including the fee per dog. We only brought our little pup Niki to keep my grandma company when we went to the Island. The Love Shack had a total of five bedrooms, but slept six. It was right by the water in the town of St. Ignace. We got to the house that evening so we decided to go for dinner then watch the hockey game.
MACKINAC ISLAND
The Flight to the island – My family, being the adventurers we are, took the small five passenger planes over to the island. They fly you by the bridge and to the island. The view with all the fall colors and the calmness of the water on that day was breathe taking. We picked the weekend of peak coloring for that reason, even though the weather was a little bit chilly. When you first see the plane you immediately think of the planes you see on movies and it doesn’t usually end well, but when it gets going it is not even close to that. The view is breath taking and you could not experience that any other way. This certainly is a must the next time you venture to Mackinac Island. You do have to make a reservation for the time that you fly. It costs $50 for an adult ticket and $35 for children. We traveled in two planes since we had 10 people going to Mackinac Island and when they came we called the taxi.
The Mackinac Island Taxi – When you think of a taxi you think of the yellow taxis in New York right? On Mackinac there are no such thing. Since car and motor vehicles are not allowed on the island the only mode of transportation is by a horse, walking, or a bike. We went the walking and the horse route. Our taxi driver was born and raised on the island, but no longer stays there for the winters. While riding in our taxi we got to see some amazing houses owned by the islanders.
As we just passed these we came to the grand hotel. You can see the Grand Hotel from the bridge and the plane as this big white building.
The Grand Hotel – The Grand Hotel is one of the oldest kept traditions, next to the no vehicles, on the island. They have a strict dress code for men and women staying in the hotel. Ladies have to dress in a dress or a skirt, no slacks. Men have to wear a coat and tie at all hours after 6:00pm. If you want to get the full experience of Mackinac Island then staying in the Grand Hotel is the way to go. For a category 3 room during the weekend for a double it is $451.00 per person, per night, for a single it is $827.00 per night. Depending on the time of year will depend on the availability of the rooms as well. Seeing as we went to the Island in the morning when we got there we were all hungry and wanted some coffee to warm up.
For coffee we stopped at Starbucks, of course. When we got our coffee we decided to go to the pancake house for some breakfast. The Pancake House only serves breakfast and is only open in the morning. After we had our coffee we decided to do some shopping before going horse back riding.
The Shopping – If there was one thing that they had it was shops. Shops that had so many things. They had t-shirts, homemade gifts, candles, eagle wine bottle holders, and a lot more. A lot of the shops have the same things in them when it comes to clothing but when it comes to the little keepsakes you can find different things in every store. When we were done shopping it was time to go horse back riding.
Horse Back Riding – For the horse back riding you have to be 10 years or older. Because my little sister was not old enough my parents rented a carriage for her, my dad, and my mom. My sister Jenna, her boyfriend Shawn, our family friend Coral, her boyfriend Alex, my younger brother Joseph, my best friend Lidya, and I went on our own horses. To rent a horse it is $45. You do not have to be an experienced horse back rider to ride the horses. They all have a great temper and are very easy to control. We also had a guide with us and if the horses acted up he was there to help. I would put this on the must list when coming to Mackinac Island as well because they take you on the horses where, as a tourist, you wouldn’t normally go. After that it was time for dinner. We ended up eating at the Mission Point Resort.
Mission Point Resort -At Mission Point you can eat there, stay there, or do both. They host weddings and events, but in our case we were just there to eat and warm up. It was also a great place to sit and relax while we watched the Michigan, Michigan State game. While we were there it starting snowing as the sun was out. It was beautiful to see inside by a warm fire with my hot chocolate. When ordering the food we expected small, semi-normal portions, but to our surprise they were really big portions. So if you are looking for a good meal with a bang for your buck this is the place to go. Make sure you make a reservation depending on the time you go because it can get pretty busy. After we got done with dinner we took the fairy back to St. Ignace.
When we got back we were so tired we watched a movie, played some board games, and went to bed. The next day we visited Tahquamenon Falls and the Ship Wreck Museum. This was not in our original travel itinerary, but we thought it would be a great stop in the fall, which it was.
TAHQUAMENON FALLS AND SHIPWRECK MUSEUM
The Lower Falls – There are two falls, the lower falls and the upper falls. First you will come to the lower falls. The most amazing part of these is where they are located, the coloring during this time was amazing and adding the sound and site it is a must when you are traveling up that way. Even if you did not originally plan on going you should include in the trip. If you drive five minutes up the road you will arrive at the upper falls.
The Upper Falls – The upper falls just proved how amazing mother nature can truly be. You do have to climb stairs that can be wet, so in my grandmas case, and some others, staying at the benches at the top and just seeing pictures is a safer way to go. If you can see it I highly recommend it. The pictures just can’t do it justice. After we saw the falls we headed up the road about 15 minutes to Shipwreck Museum. This is wear the Edmund Fitzgerald ships original bell is located at. It was a good place to go to get a history lesson and see some more history of Michigan.
Overall this was a great trip and if you ever get the chance to go you will not regret it. Taking a big group was definitely a lot of fun, but it would be just as fun with a smaller group of people. Getting to spend time with family and friends and learn so much about the beauty in Michigan is worth your while.
Thank you for letting me share this trip with you, I hope you enjoyed reading about it. If you like any of the articles of clothing I was wearing visit poshnovi.com or come see we are located at 14 mile and Novi road. We would love to see you come in. Some of the items that were pictured we still have, others we do not, but we carry the similar styles.
Blessings.
XOXO
Darby
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